Holiday travel season usually mimics the peak summer travel season, which this year was very busy and very expensive, so I expect the same for the upcoming holiday season.

When’s the best time to buy airline tickets? Due to high demand, there simply are not any real airfare “deals” on the peak days around Christmas and New Year’s this year. Travelers who want the most convenient flights on their preferred airlines should book as soon as possible to get seats on those flights…otherwise they will likely be stuck paying the same high price for “dog flights” that depart super early or late, they’ll have to sit in those dreaded middle seats, or make several stops en route to their destinations. My favorite sites for shopping for air travel this year: Kayak.com and Routehappy.com.

Should I drive or fly this year? I always stick to the five-hour rule: If you can drive to your destination in five hours or less, it’s likely smarter to hit the road instead of the skies during the holidays. This is especially true for families traveling together. Good news this year is that gasoline prices are at their lowest in many years. One of my favorite new smartphone apps for driving trips is Waze, a GPS-based mapping tool that uses information provided by other drivers to help you avoid traffic, road hazards…and speed traps.

What are the best days for traveling this year?The good news about this year’s holiday season is that it is longer than usual with Christmas and New Year’s falling on Wednesdays– the full season will be over two weeks long, which means more wiggle room for travelers. (Compared to a season when Christmas and New Year’s both fall on say, Sunday, which makes for a much more compact, crowded and expensive season.) Smart travelers will depart on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and return on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day to avoid the biggest crowds and snag the lowest fares.

Are there any alternatives or hidden secrets to getting good deals this year? If you have the flexibility to travel during the slowest times of year, the so called “dead weeks” of early December and early January, you can save 50%-70% on airfare or hotels. For example, airfares to Europe can be remarkably inexpensive during winter months. The best sites to shop for these dead week deals: Hotwire.com, Priceline.com and TravelZoo.com. It’s also a good idea to check out airline or hotel social media streams on sites like Twitter or Facebook to look for short term, last minute sales.

Is now a good time to redeem points or miles for trips? It’s nearly impossible to use airline frequent flyer awards during the blacked out, heavily restricted peak holiday season. Instead of dealing with those frustrations, focus on your credit card points! For example, the when redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you are not subject to blackouts or other restrictions. If a seat is available on any airline, you can get it!

What about airline baggage fees? If possible, avoid checking bags during the holidays– the risk of your bag getting lost and ruining your trip is just too high. Try to learn to live out of a carry on. If you have too much for a carry on, ship your bags ahead of time, but do so at the “ground” rate at UPS, FEDEX or the Postal Service. Shipping a 25 lb bag via next-day or two-day express is just too expensive.

What’s a good way to avoid holiday travel stress? Always try to book nonstop flights because you double your chances of a delay or cancellation with a one stop flight, even though you might save a few bucks. Another stress-busting move: Consider staying over in a hotel when visiting families during the holidays– rates at new hotels like a locally owned Best Western in or near suburban office parks hit annual lows during holidays (due to the lack of business travelers), and facilities are usually new and nice. Having your own space at a hotel is a big relief for both the traveler and the host during the stressy holidays.

‘Tis the season for Holiday Travel and I’m pleased to announce that I’ve teamed up with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to produce a series of travel tips and advice for those heading over the river and through the woods this year.

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Queen Latifah called for holiday travel advice last week and we delivered!

She flew TravelSkills editor Chris McGinnis down to LA (Delta Shuttle), met him at the airport with Mercedes SUV transfers, and put him up at the Hotel Palomar in Westwood for one night.

Chris McGinnis and Queen Latifah on the Queen Latifah Show set in Los Angeles

On show day, more limo transfers to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City for the taping of the seven-minute segment. The Queen provided my own private green room, with a small sofa, desk, snacks, bathroom. Other guests that day included Cloris Leachman and the Irish band Kodaline.

We taped the segment in front of a live audience from two first class airline seats in the middle of the set! the Queen was warm, personable and a LOT of fun (I expected no less!). Did you know that Queen Latifah’s real name is Dana Owens? That’s what everyone behind stage was calling her. (I just called her “your Majesty!)

Then a rush to LAX (thankfully the day before the incident at Terminal 3) and back to San Francisco.

What a fun day!

See part of the segment above…. or check out the show notes I sent prior to appearing on the show.

Holiday travel- Holiday travel season usually mimics the peak summer travel season, which this year was VERY busy and VERY expensive, so I expect the same for the upcoming holiday season

· Best time to buy tickets- Due to high demand, there simply are not any “deals” on the peak days around Christmas and New Years this year. This year, travelers who want the most convenient flights on their preferred airlines need to book by Nov 10 to get seats on those flights…otherwise they will likely be stuck paying the same high price for “dog flights” that depart super early or late, middle seats, or multiple stops on non-preferred airlines. My favorite sites for booking air: Kayak.com and Routehappy.com

· Alternative travel options that people don’t think about- If you have the flexibility to travel during the slowest times of year, the so called “dead weeks” of early December and early January, you can save 50-70% on airfare. Best sites for deadweek deals: Hotwire.com, TravelZoo. Another alternative is to consider staying over in a hotel when visiting families during the holidays– rates at new hotels in or near suburban office parks are at annual lows during holidays, and facilities are nice. Having your own space at a hotel is a big relief for both the traveler and the host during the stressy holidays.

· Best days/times for traveling- Good news about this year’s holiday season is that it is LONGER than usual with Christmas and New Years falling on Wednesdays– the full season will be over two weeks long, which means more wiggle room for travelers. (Compared to a season when Xmas and New Years both fall on say, Sunday, which makes for a much more compact season)

· Luggage issues– Do not check bags during the holidays. If you have too much for a carry on, ship ahead of time, but do so at the “ground” rate at UPS or FEDEX. Shipping overnight or two-day is too expensive.

· Rewards. It’s nearly impossible to use airline frequent flyer awards during blacked out peak holiday season, so this is the time of year to focus on using credit card rewards such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards which do not have blackout dates. Also, hotel programs like Best Western Rewards offer non travel awards such as gift cards to big stores like Sears or Target that are perfect gifts

· How to make holiday travel less stressful— see above– stay at a hotel instead of on the lumpy sofa bed of your relatives. Rates are dirt cheap during holiday season. Also, always try to book nonstop flights because you double your chances of a delay or cancellation with a one stop flight, even though you might save a few bucks.

Over time, most frequent travelers adopt an unruffled, zen-like attitude when it comes to flying. But at times, especially during the holidays, infrequent travelers exhibit certain behaviors that get under their skin. Here are my top five irritants. What are yours?

1) Seatback tappers- You know, the ones who repeatedly tap-tap-tap on the seatback entertainment screen to play games, change channels or who knows what. Since they don’t fly much, they don’t realize how irritating it is for the person in front of them to feel that constant knock that hits square on the back of the head. As soon as you think they’ve quit, it starts over again. After about 15 minutes, I’ll turn around and give ’em an arched eyebrow… what about you?

2) Pushy recliners- These folks can do real damage to an open laptop, or knock a drink right out of your hand and into your lap. They apply full backward pressure on the seatback, and then POW! They discover that that funny little button is what makes the seat go back– and right into your personal space. I can’t say this with complete authority, but from what I observe, most frequent travelers no longer recline their seats unless they are on an overnight flight. Do you still recline?

3) Aisle hogs- During boarding, these are the folks who think they can yank their overstuffed wheelie-bag down the aisle, and act surprised when it doesn’t fit and they keep running into seats and knees. Pick the bag up already, and get down the aisle! There are 150 people behind you! And once you’ve stuffed that monster into the bin, don’t go back and block the aisle while you fetch your magazines or iPod. Sit down in your seat and get outta the way. You can go back to your bag after we take off.

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4) Boarding line breakers- These are the novices who act like they are deaf or don’t speak English, or can’t read when gate agents are boarding by zone, and wander into the zone 1 group when they are actually in zone 5. What are even more irritating are gate agents who don’t pay attention and let these slouches board anyway. Back off, Jack!

5) Typhoid Marys- Most frequent travelers know that when they are in tiny tubes darting through the stratosphere, they should keep their germs to themselves. Most infrequent travelers haven’t learned that yet, and sneeze or cough without covering, prop their feet (sometimes bare) up on the the bulkheads, tray tables or armrests … even after a trip to the lavatory. These are the same folks who grab their bags in overhead bins by the wheels (which have rolled through all kinds of muck), and then touch your seatback, tray table, armrest, light switch or air vent. If you are seated by the window, these are also the hands passing drinks and food to you. Yuck! Bring on the Handi-Wipes!

Okay, now that I’ve had my Ebenezer Scrooge moment, it’s time for me to retreat back into my frequent traveler zen skin and remember that now is the time to ffer tolerance (and maybe even help) to infrequent flyers, especially during this holiday season. All of us were once one ourselves.”

The next big item on every frequent traveler’s calendar is Thanksgiving– and it’s early this year – now less than a week away on November 22.

Since an increasing number of Americans are now taking the whole week off, expect big crowds, and long, slow-moving security lines at the airport today (Friday), over the weekend and of course, next week. (Thank goodness for PreCheck at this time of year, right?)

Flying during the holidays means paying a premium of anywhere from 30% to 70% compared to other times of year—especially on long haul flights, according to FareCompare.com. Christmas/New Year’s holiday period airfares are running at an average $454 this year, up 5% from the same period last year when they were $434 according to Expedia.com. Average fares during the peak Thanksgiving period are only slightly less, averaging $442, which is also up 5% compared to last year.

If you are hitting the roads or the skies next week or next month, here are five ways improve your chances of having a happy holiday trip:

1-Postpone peak season trips

If pricey holiday airfares will keep you grounded this year, celebrate with your family during “dead weeks” instead. Dead weeks are travel industry lingo for the annual low points in travel demand, which ironically come in the middle of the peak holiday travel season. And when demand plummets, so do prices.
The catch is that you have to travel when everyone else is staying at home. Dead weeks typically occur right after the big Thanksgiving rush, and again right after the Christmas/New Years rush in early January. The good news this year is that with an early Thanksgiving (Nov 22) we have one extra dead week—the last week of November—and the deals are plentiful.

For example, if you’d like to fly to San Francisco for Thanksgiving on peak days next week, you pay close to $800 round trip. But when checking on dead week deals earlier this week, we found Delta round trip fares of just $220 round trip during the dead weeks of early December. As of this morning, those fares had increased to about $327– still not bad.

2-Use dead weeks to score a good mileage run–or buy MQMs

Dead week deals are not only a great opportunity for flexible travelers to save, but an easy way for frequent travelers to top off their mileage balances on mileage runs in order to keep or bump up their cherished elite level status.

As stated above, Delta was offering roundtrips between Atlanta and San Francisco for just $220 round trip during early/mid December! That ATL>SFO round trip nets a whopping 4,300 MQMs, so that would have been money well spend. Regrettably, when we checked this morning, the deal was gone.

But it may not be gone for good. Keep an eye on this as fares have been bouncing up and down all week because ATL-SFO is a route where Delta, Southwest and AirTran are competing heavily. Expedia has a helpful tool for monitoring the lowest fares.

This week Delta unveiled a rather weak MQM buying program (compared to previous offers) for those who’d rather buy than fly… but this year, you’ll really pay up for the honor of preserving your status. The MQM prices below are $100 more expensive than last year‘s prices. Will you do it?

This fun video (which we shared before) sorta puts the whole mileage run game into perspective!

3-Book nonstop flights

While the lower price of a one-stop flight might be tempting, you increase your chances of a delay or cancellation by 100% when you take two flights instead of one to get to your destination. Why take that chance, especially if you are headed home for just a few days, and a delayed or canceled flight could spoil the entire trip?

In many cases nonstop flights cost the same, or only $50 to $100 more. I think of that extra cost as an insurance policy against a hassle-filled trip. (If you don’t know the difference between a nonstop, direct or connecting flight, please read this!)

Another tip to ensure a delay-free trip: Book early morning flights, which are frequently parked at the airport overnight and not reliant on arriving from another airport.

Why burden the in-laws with the hassle of houseguests during the already stressful holidays? Instead of bunking on that lumpy sofa bed or stuffy guest room, book a nearby hotel.

Due to lack of demand from business travelers, most hotels are dirt-cheap during the holidays, and offer the chance experience a five-star hotel at a two or three star price.

Example: Do you have family visiting for the holidays? I’ve found rooms at the five star InterContinental Buckhead hotel for just $139 per night during Thanksgiving or Christmas, while at other times of year they go for $400+.

Rooms at comfortable suburban hotels like Best Western that may be closer to your relatives are likely starving for business during the holidays—so call the hotel directly to see if you can negotiate a great deal.

Or show off your travel-tech-savvy by pulling out your fancy new iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3 and using last minute hotel-deal apps like HotelTonight to score some amazing rates.

5-Splurge a little

While you can always pay a lot more to sit in first class, you can now pay a little bit more, and get a more comfortable coach seat. During the busy, crowded holidays, that’s money well spent.

While getting a few extra inches of room always helps, the real benefit of paying for a better economy seat is that you are usually allowed to board early—with elite level flyers. Early boarding means you get early access to scarce overhead bin space, and since these seats are located near the front of the plane, you’ll be among the first to exit when the plane lands.

These premium economy seats cost from $20 to $200 more, depending on the duration of the flight. For example, for a trip home for the holidays, those without Medallion status could pay Delta $70 extra for one of its Economy Comfort seats for the 4-5 hour nonstop between Atlanta and San Francisco. A cheaper option would be Southwest’s EarlyBird check in fee of just $10 each way—which gets you closer to the front of the line for boarding.

Have a great trip and a very happy holiday!

–Chris McGinnis

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The next big item on every frequent traveler’s calendar is Thanksgiving– and it’s early this year – just a week away on November 22.

Since an increasing number of Americans are now taking the whole week off, expect big crowds, and long, slow-moving security lines at the airport this starting this Friday, over the weekend and of course, next week. (Might be time to consider line-busting options like CLEAR or PreCheck!)

If you are hitting the roads or the skies next week or next month, here are five ways improve your chances of having a happy holiday trip:

1-Book nonstop flights

While the lower price of a one-stop flight might be tempting, you increase your chances of a delay or cancellation by 100% when you take two flights instead of one to get to your destination. Why take that chance, especially if you are headed home for just a few days, and a delayed or canceled flight could spoil the entire trip?

In many cases nonstop flights cost the same, or only $50 to $100 more. I think of that extra cost as an insurance policy against a hassle-filled trip. (If you don’t know the difference between a nonstop, direct or connecting flight, please read this!)

Another tip to ensure a delay-free trip: Book early morning flights, which are frequently parked at the airport overnight and not reliant on arriving from another airport.

(Are YOU signed up to get TravelSkills via email? Hop to it! Click here or enter your email in the pink form to the right, please!)

2-Make high airfares pay you back.

Flying during the holidays means paying a premium of anywhere from 30% to 70% compared to other times of year—especially on long haul flights, according to FareCompare.com. Christmas/New Year’s holiday period airfares are running at an average $454 this year, up 5% from the same period last year when they were $434 according to Expedia.com. Average fares during the peak Thanksgiving period are only slightly less, averaging $442, which is also up 5% compared to last year.

So let’s face it, you’ll be breaking out the credit card—a lot—when traveling during the peak holiday season. You might as well be using a card that’s going to pay you back in points and other benefits. For example, I just signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which is currently offering a 40,000-point sign up bonus if I spend at least $3,000 in the first three months.

Since this is the holidays…and I have four trips booked between now and the end of the year… I’ll likely hit that threshold with ease. Which means I’ll end up with at least 50,000 points (bonus plus two points per dollar spent on travel) and that is enough for two no-blackout-date airline tickets, which I’ll likely use NEXT year to avoid paying through the nose to fly home for during the peak holiday season. (See below)

Right now, most major credit cards are offering similarly fat points and mileage bonuses to frequent travelers with good credit, so if you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting a new card, doing so during the heavy-spending holidays is smart strategic move.

3-Postpone peak season trips

If pricey holiday airfares will keep you grounded this year, celebrate with your family during “dead weeks” instead. Dead weeks are travel industry lingo for the annual low points in travel demand, which ironically come in the middle of the peak holiday travel season. And when demand plummets, so do prices.

The catch is that you have to travel when everyone else is staying at home. Dead weeks typically occur right after the big Thanksgiving rush, and again right after the Christmas/New Years rush in early January. The good news this year is that with an early Thanksgiving (Nov 22) we have one extra dead week—the last week of November—and the deals are plentiful.

Here’s an extreme example: A transcontinental flight between San Francisco and Cleveland during the Thanksgiving or Christmas peak is currently a painful $1,460 (seriously!) round trip.

But when checking on dead week deals on Orbitz this week, I found that United is offering an astoundingly low fare of just $208 round trip on that route over the weekend of Nov 30-Dec 3. Now that’s dirt-cheap!

Dead week deals are not only a great opportunity for flexible travelers to save, but an easy way for frequent travelers to top off their mileage balances in order to keep or bump up their cherished elite level status. (That SFO>CLE round trip nets a whopping 4,300 elite qualifying miles.) If you are a Delta SkyMiles junkie, I found roundtrips between SFO and Atlanta for just $220 during dead weeks. Amazing!

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4-Stay at a hotel

Why burden the in-laws with the hassle of houseguests during the already stressful holidays? Instead of bunking on that lumpy sofa bed or stuffy guest room, book a nearby hotel.

Due to lack of demand from business travelers, most hotels are dirt-cheap during the holidays, and offer the chance experience a five-star hotel at a two or three star price.

Example: I frequently travel back to Atlanta, my hometown, for the holidays. I’ve found rooms at the five star InterContinental Buckhead hotel for just $139 per night during Thanksgiving or Christmas, while at other times of year they go for $400+.

Rooms at comfortable suburban hotels like Best Western that may be closer to your relatives are likely starving for business during the holidays—so call the hotel directly to see if you can negotiate a great deal.

Or show off your travel-tech-savvy by pulling out your fancy new iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3 and using last minute hotel-deal apps like HotelTonight to score some amazing rates.

Like what you are reading? Then please tell 3 friends to SIGN UP for TravelSkills today! They will appreciate the heads up! Send them this link and a little encouragement:www.travelskills.com

5-Splurge a little

While you can always pay a lot more to sit in first class, you can now pay a little bit more, and get a more comfortable coach seat. During the busy, crowded holidays, that’s money well spent.

While getting a few extra inches of room always helps, the real benefit of paying for a better economy seat is that you are usually allowed to board early—with elite level flyers. Early boarding means you get early access to scarce overhead bin space, and since these seats are located near the front of the plane, you’ll be among the first to exit when the plane lands.

These premium economy seats cost from $20 to $200 more, depending on the duration of the flight. For example, for a trip home for the holidays, you could pay Delta $70 extra for one of its Economy Comfort seats for the 4-5 hour nonstop between San Francisco and Atlanta. A cheaper option would be Southwest’s EarlyBird check in fee of just $10 each way—which gets you to the front of the line for boarding.

Wowza! ATL to the west coast for less than $200? You betcha! (Southwest Airlines fare displayed on 10/9)

Southwest and AirTran have launched a nationwide sale offering some eye-poppingly good deals for fall and winter travel. How about Atlanta to San Francisco and back for just $184 all in? ATL to New York-La Guardia for $150? Or ATL all the way to Denver and back for just $198? These are just a few samples of hundreds of really good deals on offer.

BUT, there’s a catch, as always… so don’t get your hopes up for a great deal during the peak holiday travel season. The fares on Southwest are only good during what I call the “dead weeks.” These are the slowest travel days of the year—Wednesday, November 28 through Wednesday, December 12, 2012, and then again from Monday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. On AirTran, the fares are good through March 1.

These fares are excellent choices for business travelers who can schedule their meetings during these dips in demand when fares plummet.

They are also good for those who cannot afford peak holiday pricing and don’t mind postponing family visits or vacations.

They are also great options for skiers headed to the Rockies during January or February.

The details, dates and blackout dates vary slightly between Southwest and AirTran, so be sure to check both if they both fly to the city you are interested in.

Note that Southwest and AirTran launched this fare sale today… and you can count on other airlines matching the sale later today with similar fares on competitive routes.

Here are the details for Southwest:

>Book your trip at southwest.com by midnight on Thursday October 11, 2012.

>To get these deals, you must enter the discount code BigDeal40 in the Promo Code box on southwest.com or SWABIZ.com in order to receive the discount.

>Act fast. The sale is good for travel Wednesday, November 28 through Wednesday, December 12, 2012, and then again from Monday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 (Not good on Sundays and certain other blackout dates). The cheapest seats will sell out fast.

Southwest Airlines has launched a nationwide sale offering some eye-poppingly good deals for fall and winter travel. How about SFO to Chicago and back for just $175 all in? Oakland to Denver for just $150? Or SFO all the way to Atlanta and back for less than $200? These are just a few samples of hundreds of really good deals on offer.

BUT, there’s a catch, as always… so don’t get your hopes up for a great deal during the peak holiday travel season. The fares are only good during what I call the “dead weeks.” These are the slowest travel days of the year—Wednesday, November 28 through Wednesday, December 12, 2012, and then again from Monday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013

These fares are excellent choices for business travelers who can schedule their meetings during these dips in demand when fares plummet.

They are also good for those who cannot afford peak holiday pricing and don’t mind postponing family visits or vacations.

They are also great options for skiers headed to the Rockies if the snow is not up to snuff in the Sierra in January.

Here are the details:

>Book your trip at southwest.com by midnight on Thursday October 11, 2012. Note that Southwest and AirTran launched this fare sale today… and you can count on other airlines matching the sale later today with similar fares on competitive routes.

>To get these deals, you must enter the discount code BigDeal40 in the Promo Code box on southwest.com or SWABIZ.com in order to receive the discount.

>Act fast. The sale is good for travel Wednesday, November 28 through Wednesday, December 12, 2012, and then again from Monday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 (Not good on Sundays and certain other blackout dates). The cheapest seats will sell out fast.

A similar sale, but without the gimmicky discount code is also underway at Southwest subsidiary AirTran—check sale fares at www.airtran.com.

>by Chris McGinnis

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Southwest Airlines recently painted a 737 based on the Colorado state flag.

One of the biggest downsides of downsizing in the airline industry is that peak holiday airfares head into the stratosphere. Since 2005, the supply of airline seats flying around out there has declined about 10%. However, during holiday peaks, demand is the same or greater than before, which results in painful spikes in airfare.

Southwest and AirTran announced an interesting TWO DAY systemwide fare sale today, which offers nearly half off the going rate if you are willing to travel on the DAY of the holiday… i.e. Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Take a look at how much you can save if you are willing to fly on off peak days around Thanksgiving.

SFO>Chicago-Midway.

If you can fly out on Thanksgiving Day and return on the Tuesday after, the lowest fare is just $318.

But if you can only fly on peak days…such as the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after, the lowest fare spikes to $532:

The same goes for Southwest or AirTran nonstops between SFO and Atlanta.

Let’s say you get up early and fly to Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day, getting there just in time for an evening feast (and then returning on the Tuesday after). The lowest fare is $366.

But if you travel when everyone else wants to, such as the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after, you’ll pay dearly, with the lowest fare at $619.

Keep in mind that this is good today through Thursday only… so if you are mulling heading home for the holidays, it might be a good time to start checking fares and making decisions. While I used Southwest as an example, you will likely find other airlines matching these fares later today.

Another important note– see how I only searched for NONSTOP flights? I always suggest traveling non-stop during the winter holidays– it reduces the likelihood of delays and offers the maximum amount of time with family for the holidays. You will likely see nonstop fares rise significantly as we approach the holidays, while one-stop fares might be lower.

Here’s the fine print regarding this sale (identical for Southwest and AirTran):

Purchase from August 28 through August 30, 2012, 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

Travel September 7 through February 13, 2013.

Blackout Dates Apply: October 5, October 12, October 19, November 16-November 21, November 23-November 26, December 20-December 23, December 26-December 31, 2012, and January 1-January 2, 2013.

Sale fares not valid for travel to New Orleans January 31-February 2 or February 6-February 9, 2013, nor from New Orleans February 4-February 5 or February 7-February 13, 2013.

Travel valid every day except Sundays.

Offer not available to/from Washington D.C. (Dulles); Key West, FL

What about you? Is it time to bite the bullet and commit to holiday travel plans? Given the strength of the summer travel season, I don’t expect to see many fare sales for the holidays this year…

About this time of year, frequent and infrequent travelers alike are faced with the hassle, uncertainty and expense of checking bags for trips home for the holidays.

Most frequent travelers reading this rarely check bags when on the road for business– and if they do, fees are likely waived due to elite status. But for holiday trips home, bag contents frequently expand to include winter coats, formal wear, gifts and plenty of other extraneous items– especially if kids are involved.

Shipping bags via FEDEX or UPS sounds like a great idea until you look at rates. Shipping luggage is not cheap– or fast. To get rates that meet or beat airline fees, you must ship via ground which can take four or five days to get across the country. And distance makes a big difference when it comes to rates. Plus there’s the time cost of schlepping bags to a FEDEX or UPS facility.

I checked with FEDEX to determine how much it would cost to ship a standard carry on-sized piece of luggage (10″x14″x22″) weighing 35 lbs. from the FEDEX store in Atlanta to New York City, Boulder, Colo. and San Francisco.

Atlanta to New York:

$198 each way – Standard overnight delivery

$106 each way – Two-day delivery

$28 each way — end of second day home delivery

Atlanta to Boulder, Colo.:

$213 each way – Standard overnight delivery

$167 each way – Two-day delivery

$35 each way – Three-day (ground) home delivery

Atlanta to San Francisco:

$228 each way – Standard overnight delivery

$182 each way – Two-day delivery

$48 each way- End of fourth day (ground) delivery

Keeping in mind most airlines charge $25 for the first checked bag (except Southwest and JetBlue) and $35 for the second, each way, would you pay to ship or just check it with the airline and hope for the best?

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If you’ve been putting off business trips, blown off your family back home, or missed that romantic weekend away because airfares are too high, you should check out the new “dead week” deals offered by AirTran and Southwest.

Dead weeks are the annual low points in travel demand, which ironically come in the midst of the peak holiday travel season. And when demand plummets, so do prices. However, the catch is that you’ve got to travel when everyone else is staying at home.

Dead weeks typically fall during the first few weeks of December right after the big Thanksgiving rush, and again right after the Christmas/New Years rush in early January.

In a 72-hour sale that starts today, AirTran and Southwest are now offering some pretty remarkable fares for travel during this period. Keep in mind also that hotel rates plummet during this time (except in NYC during December). There are also tons of last minute deals as desperate suppliers try to dump unsold seats, rooms and cars. Transcons between ATL and West Coast cities for less than $300? Those are very good deals.

Here are some examples of the deals from Atlanta on AirTran…I imagine by the time you read this other airlines will have matched them. For 72-hours only, you can purchase one-way tickets for $35, $65, $95 or $125 based on length of travel (Add $25-$35 to each of these round trips to cover taxes/fees. Fares are not valid on SUNDAYS.)

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Editor Chris McGinnis

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